Method of and apparatus for making a sheet-metal product



March 4, 1924. 1 485917 L; HARTER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ASHEET METAL PRODUCT Filed June 14 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 4, 1924.1,485,917 L. HARTER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SHEET METALPRODUCT Filed June 14. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March, 4, 1924. I 1,485,917

L. HARTER 7 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SHEET METAL PRODUCTFiled June 14. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I Patented Mar. 4, 1924 LGUISHABTER, 0F BITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SHEET-METAL PRGDUCT.

Application filed June is, 1922. Serial No. 568,259.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lo'ors HAR'rnn, a citi-- zen or the United States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of end Apperetus for Making a Sheet-Metal Prodnot, of whichthejollowing is a. specification.

This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming a sheetmotel product useful as a building structure, and especielly as areinforcement for concrete.

The particular form of metal structure which the invention proposes toproduce comprises a metal sheet of the desired gauge and dimensions,having 10 itudinel corrugations therein, the ribs 0 which are so shapedas to form channels having outwardly converging side portions, so thatthe width of the intervening spcce between. the side walls is reducedtoward the face oi the sheet, somewhat similar to e dovetail groove, inorder that the elementwill have an interlocking engagement with concreteor other plastic or earthen material applied thereto.

An element having this shape is necessarily somewhat difiioult to formon is large commercial. scale, especially in pieces of the desiredlength, The present invention. has

' for its primary object to provide 2 cheep,

simple means and process for making such reinforcing sheets on acommercially practical scale.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method. oftreating the sheets of metal in the preliminary stages of formation in.such manner as to avoid stretching or tearing the metal.

The invention consists broadly in corrugeting the metal in such mannerso to form ribs and. channels of considerable depth,

' without injury to the metal, and in then subjecting the opposite fecesof corrugated sheet to pressure to decrease the depth of thecorrugations by bulging the metal which forms the ribs outwardly, toproduce ribs and channels of the desired shape,

My invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figs. 1 to 7 ere diagreetic views showing successive steps in thepreliniinery formation of the motel by a rolling process;

Fig. is a diagrammatic view, she-wing how the rolls may be formed toproperly bite the metal;

Fi s. 9 to 12 inclusive ere views correspon mg to views 1 to 7inclusive, showing how the preliminary steps may be efiected in a press;

Fig. 13 is a front view of the last pair of corrugeting rolls for finalformation of the corrugations in the sheet;

Fig. 14 shows one Way of errenging the corrugeting rolls to thefinishing rolls;

Fig, 15 is a front View of the-finishing rolls; and

Fi t 16 -is a. perspective view of the finished product.

In the formation of ordinary corrugated sheet metal, the metal. ispassed through rolls having longitudinal ribs on their peripheries. Thesheet of motel passing between these rolls is corrugated transversely coits direction of. travel, Obviously, the length of the rolls limits theler th of a sheet which could be corrugated, iii the present invention,it is contemplated that the sheets b corrugated when rolledin thedirection of their travel through the rolls, or that the ribs be formedin them longitudinally instead of transversely.

When corrugating sheet metal lengthwise, the width of the stripdecreases with the in crease. in the number and depth of the co.-rugstions, end if all the corrugations were formed at the some time, themetal would be stretched and torn.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawings, 5 and 6 designate upper end lowerrolls respectively, and A represents the sheet of metel. Upper roll 5has a central peripheral 'rib 7, at each side of which are roundeddepressions 8. The lower roll 6 has e peripheral groove9 into which therib 7 projects, and at each side of the groove is a rib 10 havingrounded surfaces and adapted to engage in depressions 8 or the upperroll.

The sheet A, emerging from the first roll, hes a. central depressed riba, at each side of which are slightly raised rounded ribs Z), the outersides of which taper oil very gradually into the plane of the sheet. Theshapes of the various parts of the rolls allow the metal to drewinwardly from the sides, so that in forming the ribs, the mete]. is notstretched. I

In Fig. 2, the upper end lower rolls 5 end 6 correspond to rolls 5 and6, but the rib and groove E"-*-9, corresponding to arts 7-9 of rolls 5and 6, are of greater eight and. depth respectively. Portions 8 andcorrespond to parts 8 and 10 of rolls 5 and 6.

Substantially the onl change which will occur in the sheet A t erefore,will be the increasein depth of the central groove.

In Fig. 3, rolls 5 and 6 correspond .to

rolls 5 and 6, respectively. The upper roll 5! has a central. peripheralrib 7 of considerable height with a rounded periphery and fiat taperedsides, and at each side of this rib are curved recesses or grooves 8" ofslightly less width than 'the corresponding recess '8 and. 8 of thepreceding rolls. At the side of each of recesses 8" are ribs 11,corresponding exactly to ribs T,- and at the side of which is recess 12,similar to recesses 8 and 8".

The lower roll 6" is correspondingly modifled, having the central groove9 shaped to correspond to the shape of rib 7*. At each side of thegroove 9 are ribs 10 which "are less decidedly rounded than thecorreslponding ribs 10* of the preceding pass. o the sides of these ribsare recesses 13, corresponding exactly to the central groove 9 of thefirst pass.

After passing through the rolls 5 and 6", the first reliminary rib orcorrugation a is complete, and the formation of reverse ribs bare wellunder formation, and ribs 0 corresponding to rib a are started. Therolls are so she Jed that the metal can always move in roin the sides,so that the metal need not be stretched or ruptured while bending.

The next rolls 5 and 6 do not change the center groove, but are shapedto increase ribs 6 and a, rib c in this pair of rolls being shaped tothe dimension of rib a afiier passing through the second rolls 5 an 6.

In Fig. 5, rolls 5 and 6 complete ribs b and c, and begin the formationof additional ribs (Z and e at each side of ribs 0. The rolls 5 and 6 ofFig. 6 do not change ribs a, b, a, but increase the rib formation ofribs (Z and e to the same extent that ribs b and 0 are formed by therolls of Fig. 4%. The rolls 5 and (i of Fig. 7 complete the preliminaryformation oi ribs (1 and e, and begin the first bending of additionalribs to the sides of ribs 8.

By a sufficient number of rolls formed along this line, the entire widthof a sheet of metal of the desired dimensions may be progressivelycorrugated, and the metal will not be subjected to undue stretching, andwill not be liable to be torn. while corrugations of considerable depthmay be formed. The first rib need not necessarily be formed at themiddle. but this is desired because the progressive formation of thecorrugations may be continued at both sides o f the central groove,thereby reducing the number of rolls neoessa consider sly below thenumber needed iithe first corrugations were formed at the side. it".necessary, certain other rolls may be employed in addition to thoseshown in Figs. 2 to 7 inclusive, and disposed between such rolls.

Fig. 13" shows the last rolls 5 and 6 of the series for forming thepreliminary corrugations, the emerging sheet A bein shown with aplurality of corrugations of considerable depth therein.

The various pairs of rolls are set rather closely together, and, inorder that, with their respective ribs and recesses, the rolls may get abite on the metal to feed it through, notches 15 as shown in Fig. 8

are cut in the peripheral portions of the two rolls, which are adaptedto come opposite each other at the same time. These notches allow thesheet A to slip in between the rolls sumciently far to enable the rollsto bite the metal and pull, it through. As the ribs and coves areformed, the metal will crease acir in the sheet, so that the notches 15will not destroy the continuity of the ribs or grooves.

While rolls are particulariy useful in efiecting the preliminary stagesof corrugating where extremely long sheets are treated, presses may beused on sheets of certain sizes up to a given maximum. Figs. 9 to 12illustrate diagrammatically how this may be done. i

.In Fig. 9, designates an end view of a portion of a press bed orplaten, having a series of longitudinal ribs 21" on its upper face,between which are channels 21". Hisposed over the table is a series oflongitudinally extending pressing bars 22, each' one of which may beraised and lowered by a suitable mechanism, such as one or more pressurecylinders. The bars 22 are in alinement with channels 21 in the bed 20,and are adapted to be projected into such channels.

The sheet of material A. is first properly positioned on the table. Thenone of the pressing bars 22., preferably the central one. is forceddownwardly, to the position shown in Fig. 9. One corrugation iscompletely formed by this operation. During the formation of the firstcorrugation, the metal is free to move in from each side to therebyprevent stretching of the metal. lVhile the first bar remains down, thenext adjacent plunger comes down. When the central bar is the first onelowered, then the adjacent plunger at each side is forced down, as shownin Fig. 10, and the next two corru gations are shown. While theseplnngers remain down, the plungers adjacrnt them are lowered, completingtwo more corrugations, as shown in 11. In this-way, the sheet iscorrugated until all of theplungers are down, as shown in Fig. 12. hethus Hi l Edi)

formed, the metal is not'stretched or ruptured, as the sheet is free tocontract its width from the edges inwardly with the formation of each cotion. j

It may thus be seen at the metal ma be given the reliminary treatment mro or in a suita le press to form longitudinal ooves of substantialdepth, by progressivey forming the corrugations across the sheet whileallowing the sheet to contract laterally, and while holding the corruation first formed against dlstortion whi e adjacent corrugations arebeingmade. The holding of the corrugations against distortion after onceformed is accomplished in the rolling operation by providing thesuccessive rolls with the corresponding ribs-and grooves. As an example,afterthe first corru ation is completed, and the formation of ad acentcorru ations begun, a rib is retained on the rolls or engaging in thefirst corrugation to prevent it from pulling out. In the pressingoperation, the plungers remain down while the adjacent rooves are beingformed.

After the s eet A has been corrugated as shown in Fig. 13 entirelyacross its width, pressure is ap lied to its faces to decrease the depthof the corrugations b compressing and bulging the sides thereooutwardly.

This is preferably accomplished by rolling, as illustrated m Fig. 15.The up er and lower rolls 25 and 26 are journal ed' in a housing 27.Each roll is provided with a series of peripheral ribs 25 and 26respectively, which 'are of less height than the ribs of the preliminarycorrugations of sheet A.

The are of less width than the corrugations in s eet A and instead ofhavi ta ered sides, they have straight sides. e ribs of the res ectiverolls are. sta gered, so that the ribs 0 one extend into t e spacesbetween the ribs ofvthe other. These spaces or channels, designated 25on the up r roll and 26 onthe lower, are wider at t eir innermostportions than the corresponding ooves of rolls 5 and 6 of Fi 13 or 0table 20,

- and the bottoms of t e grooves are more rounded.

When the sheet A, having the hi h ribbed corrugations, is assed betweenr0 5 25 and 26, the faces 0 the sheet, or the tops of the ribs, arecompressed and their height 'decreased. This compression of the ribsbulges-them out to form a product of the shape shown in Fig. 16. Y I

;All of the steps, especially with heavier stock, are preferabl carriedout when the sheet is heated, to give the best results with -the leaststrain on the metal.

When carrying out the preliminary steps by a rolling process, all of therolls, to ether with the finishing rolls, may be embo led in a singleunitary construction, all of the rolls being driven at constant speed,so that a fiat sheet may be put in at one end and and then applyingpressure to said ribs in a the direction of the height of the ribs tocause the ribs to bulge.

3. The process of forming a sheet metal product which consists informing a plurality of corrugations therein, and subjecting the sheetwhile hot to pressure applied to the corrugations in the direction oftheir height to decrease the height thereof and bulge the metal outward.

4. The method of forming a sheet metal article having an outwardlybulged rib thereon'which consists in first forming a rib in said sheetby pressing the metal outwardly, then applying pressure to the rib inthe direction of its height to upset the rib and cause its walls tobulge outwardly.

their height to cause them to bulge at the desired point. i

6. The method of forming a sheet metal product which consists incorrugating the sheet to produce longitudinally extending ribs, thenpassing the-sheet through transversely corrugated rolls, the ribs andchannels of which are of less depth than the depth of the corrugationsin the sheet whereby the height of the corrugations of the sheet aredecreased and the walls thereof caused to bulge. y

7. The process of forming a sheet metal article which consists informing a rib on one face of a sheet of metal which forms a channel inthe other face of the sheet, andpassing said sheet between a pair ofrolls adapted to decrease the hei ht of said rib and thereby bulge thewalls thereof outwardly between the top and the bottom thereof in adirection at right angles to the height of the ribs.

8. The process of forming a sheet metal article which consists incorrugatin'g a sheet of metal, passing said sheet through corrugatedrolls, the corrugations of which rolls correspond in position with thecorrugations of the sheet, the ribs on said corrw gated rolls being ofless width and less depth than the corrugations of the sheet, and thegrooves in the rolls being wider than the corresponding grooves of thesheet,

wherebycertain parts of the ribs of the sheet are caflsed to bulge.

9. The method of forming :1 sheet metal article which consists in(jfll'lligztiillg a sheet of metal and then subjecting it to pressure inthe direction of the height of the ribs between corrugated shapingmembers, the ribs of which are of less depth than the ribs of the sheetand wherein the space between adjacent ribs at their bases isconsiderably greater than the width of the corrugation of the sheetwhich they enter, and thereby upsetting the ribs of the sheet andexpanding them laterally into the spacebetween adjacent ribs of thecorrugated shaping mem-' here.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LOUIS HARTER.

